MS&AD Ventures, insurance group MS&AD’s corporate venturing unit, has contributed to a $15.2m series B round for Socotra, the US-based creator of a software development platform for the insurance industry.
Insurance and fintech-focused venture capital firm Brewer Lane Ventures led the round, which included VC firms 8VC and Portag3 Ventures, the latter of which operates as a branch of alternative investment platform Sagard Holdings.
Founded in 2014, Socotra has built a platform that helps insurance providers create products equipped with features such as policy underwriting and management, claims and reinsurance options that are designed for their customers.
Socotra CEO Dan Woods said: “This is an exciting time as Socotra’s momentum continues to accelerate. Brewer Lane Ventures and Portag3 Ventures have remarkably deep insurance expertise so they immediately recognised what Socotra means for the insurance industry.
“This additional funding will further accelerate our product development, and our continued growth in the US, Europe and Australia. Finally, we are excited to benefit from John Kim’s insights and deep industry experience as he joins our board of directors.”
The round took the company’s total funding to $33.5m, $5.2m of which came from MS&AD Ventures, financial services and insurance firm Nationwide and a subsidiary of financial services provider USAA in February 2019.
8VC joined existing backers SciFi VC, Tuesday Capital, SV Angel, Founders Fund, Greenoaks Capital and Vulcan Capital to invest $5.5m in Socotra in September 2018, seven months after it secured an undisclosed amount from USAA.
